A human rights group has claimed that Israel is using white phosphorus munitions – which can burn people “down to the bone”- in its military operations in Gaza. However, the Israeli authorities deny the charge.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that it has verified videos taken in Lebanon and Gaza on October 10th and 11th, “showing multiple airbursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over the Gaza City port and two rural locations along the Israel-Lebanon border.” It also said that it had interviewed two people who described an attack in Gaza.
However, Reuters reported that, “asked for comment on the allegations, Israel’s military said it was ‘currently not aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorus in Gaza.’ It did not provide comment on the rights watchdog’s allegations of their use in Lebanon.”
HRW said that “Israel’s use of white phosphorus comes amid hostilities following Hamas’ deadly attacks on October 7th and subsequent rocket attacks that have killed, as of October 12th, more than 1,300 Israelis, including hundreds of civilians, and taking of scores of Israelis as hostages in violation of international humanitarian law.”
The unprecedented incursion by Hamas, and the viciousness of the attacks which were mostly aimed at unarmed civilians, led Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare that Israel would seek mighty vengeance against the perpetrators.
White phosphorus, which can be used either for marking, signalling and obscuring, or as a weapon to set fires that burn people and objects, has a significant incindiary effect that can severely burn people and set structures, fields, and other civilian objects in the vicinity of the fire.
“The use of white phosphorus in Gaza, one of the most densely populated areas in the world, magnifies the risk to civilians and violates the international humanitarian law prohibition on putting civilians at unnecessary risk,” HRW said.
Israel’s use of white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza & Lebanon is putting civilians at risk of serious & long-term injuries – @hrw https://t.co/N9xYzSv9o8 New @hrw Q & A on white phosphorus, which can be used as a smokescreen or a weapon: https://t.co/Kw2OwQtjWf pic.twitter.com/YEfuIYSRtA
— Mary Wareham (@marywareham) October 12, 2023
A spokesman for the Israeli Defence Forces told The Telegraph: “We are currently not aware of the use of weapons containing white phosphorus in Gaza. Any use of weapons containing white phosphorus is subject to international law restrictions.”
New videos and photographs are emerging of the Hamas attacks on Israel which some commentators say bolster Israel’s case for defence and a ground invasion, including images of babies killed in a massacre which have attracted worldwide condemnation.
#Israel 🇮🇱: a new video has emerged of the moment #Hamas militants stormed the terrain of the Nova Festival. Militants can be seen firing at random at portable toilets, in case people might have been hiding inside them. 260 people were massacred.
Clear acts of terrorism. pic.twitter.com/NApgMbXxD2
— Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) October 13, 2023
Israel has now told more than one million Palestinians to move to the south of Gaza as its military continues to move its soldiers and tanks to the border ahead of what could be a major ground offensive.
The UN said that Gaza was fast becoming a “hell hole” and is on the brink of collapse, and warned that the evacuation order was “impossible” to achieve.
The scale and speed of the unfolding humanitarian crisis is bone-chilling.
📍#Gaza is fast becoming a hell hole and is on the brink of collapse.
There is no exception, all parties must uphold the laws of war.https://t.co/kcxqDAnmgI pic.twitter.com/eoK1u2RGqz
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) October 13, 2023
Israeli authorities said the attack by Hamas and ongoing rocket fire had killed more than 1,300 people as of today, with more than 1,300 injured.
The number of Palestinians who have been killed in Gaza since the incursion last Saturday rose to 1,799, with 7,388 wounded, the Gaza Ministry of Health said today.